12 | The Current | March 15, 2010
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Touhill uses its illusion(ist) There are certain professions that people take for granted. Whether you call them magicians, illusionists, mentalists, mystifiers or charlatans, those who pursue the professional art and discipline of illusion are often brought up only as the butt of jokes or in whimsical reference. Mike Super, winner of NBC’s 2007 series “Phenomenon,” recalled a memory from elementary school while warming up the Touhill audience for another illusion on Saturday. “My teacher was asking everybody what they want to be when they grow up, and I said ‘magician,’ to which she replied, ‘Mike, that’s not a real job,’” Super said. If another boy could be an astronaut, the young Super wondered, why couldn’t he be a magician? It was Super’s mother who assured him that he could be a magician if he wanted to. He ended the show with a poignant tribute to his mother, a moment that capped a night which had deftly moved from thrillingly theatrical to pointedly funny. For the most part, this unexpected infusion of humor into a magic show was effective. However, Super,
while personable and charming, wisely knows that his true forte is illusion. And this skill, which led Super to defeat nine other forerunners in the world of mystifying in front of judges Criss Angel and Uri Geller, was on full and incredible display at Super’s Touhill performance. The current information and image-saturated generation is rarely awed. With bite-sized video clips of every wonder imaginable at its finger tips, this generation is rather numb to the age-old art of magicianry. Yet even the most hardened, seenit-all skeptic would be amazed at the sights that Super unveiled on stage in the splendid AnheuserBusch auditorium. Timeless magic staples were on full display: audience volunteers were made to float, put in impossibly small boxes, and run through with swords. But Super also brought his own flavor to the field. Among his personally created routines was a particularly impressive “voodoo” riff, in which Super made a blindfolded volunteer “feel” what he did to a doll from a distance, even revealing ashy burn marks on their hands after he sets the doll’s
SWEET JAMS This week’s top 5 iTunes downloads as reviewed by The Current’s Chris Stewart
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From the music video I gather that Mr. Cruz’es life involves much more yachting with scantily-clad women than mine. By, like, 100%. As such, I feel unqualified to remark on his song, other than to say that I’ve already forgotten it. COURTESY OF MIKE SUPER
hands alight. It is incredible stuff that simultaneously stimulates our desire to be amazed by miracles and also to figure out the secret behind these illusions. Short of the physical experience of the show, it is hard to communicate the spectacle. Super took great pains to show every angle of every prop. He struck swords on the ground so the audience could hear their steel and see their solid dimensions. He spun around the board the volunteer would levitate on. And while she was floating, he ran his hands under and around the platform she floated
Black Water Rising self-titled album offers MySpace metal At first glance, the artwork on the front of Black Water Rising’s self-titled debut album looks dark and ominous. In the center is the skull of a bull of some sort, with long horns, long hair, cables and motorcycle exhaust pipes all bursting out of the sides of it. At the top of the snout, between the eyes of the skull, rages a fire that burns from blue at the bottom to yellow and orange at the top, nearly leaping off the case. Black Water Rising is a four-piece band that hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. Upon first listening to the album, the listener immediately realizes that these guys can rock, hard. Which makes sense, considering their MySpace page indicates their genre of music to be hard rock and metal. The songwriting in the band is very much politically oriented and also draws images of issues with society. Producer, guitarist, vocalist, chief songwriter and band leader
‘Break Your Heart’ Taio Cruz
Rob Traynor delivers his vocals very raw and with a ton of angst. However, he often comes off sounding like another version of Chad Krueger from Nickelback. Highlights include the songs “Brother Go On” and “The River.” Lyrics like “Just a number and slave, from the womb to the grave” convey the message the group is delivering about the government. The group is not necessarily anti-establishment, just against the establishment America currently promotes. An example comes from the song, “Brother Go On,” whose lyrics read, “See the man with the current plan, well he don’t understand the working man. He will claim he can feel your pain and he will promise gain but he’s the only one gaining. I think it’s time to dispose of the leaders we’ve chose[n], seems the enemy lies within.” The guitars generally deliver powerful, heavy riffs that lead into bursting, light-speed solos from both guitarists, Johnny Fattoruso
on to show that there is nothing propping it up or suspending it from the ceiling. The overall effect was one that disarmed and enchanted. The set was simple but colorful. Playful and bombastic musical choices added a dramatic but still tongue-in-cheek layer to the performance. Super himself constantly walked the line of reassuring the audience that illusions were only that, while displaying a passion for pulling off tricks that seemed like they could not possibly be anything but real. B –Chris Stewart
and Traynor. The guitar licks are metal in nature but have heavy laden roots in the grunge world, feeling very reminiscent of bands such as Alice in Chains. The guitarists seem to blend the styles together with ease, with highlights being “No Halos” and “Rise.” The bass is rather quiet and overshadowed by the heavy guitars, but can still be felt very well. Oddie McLaughlin, bassist, and Mike Meselsohn, drummer, form the rhythm section and provide some pretty hard-hitting grooves as the basis for many of the songs, the best of which being the opening track, “The Mirror.” The album is well worth the price if one is a fan of grunge, hard rock or American metal. Compared to most of today’s mainstream music, it is a relieving spark of ingenuity, an old sound with a new polish. However, it does drag on a little at times and some of the songs start to sound alike after a few listens. C+ –Patrick W. Canoy
What are you listening to right now? Send us a tweet: @umslcurrent
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‘Nothin’ on you” B. O. B.
A good song. Simple and layed on a wide, smash-pan beat that reminds of how cluttered and busy recent hits in the genre have been. B.O.B., as a rapper, has a crisp, playful drawl, if not the most creative wordplay. It’s catchy stuff and, at the end of the day, a sweet love song.
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‘Hey, Soul Sister’ Train
Shouldn’t this song be retired to use in, say, laundry detergent commercials? Mother winkingly frowns at playful children’s muddy clothes before they all wash them to the upbeat, family-friendly sounds of Train?
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‘Imma Be’ Black Eyed Peas
“Hey Fergie.” “Yeah, Will.I.Am? What’s Up?” “Not much Fergie. I don’t feel like writing. Could we maybe just loop something, like, 800 times and sell that?” “Sure Will.I.Am. Let me just check with...that other guy that’s in our band.” That’s how it happened. Promise.
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‘Need You Now’ Lady Antebellum
Antebellum is a lovely word. “Pre-war” if you just break it down to the Greek roots. Also, on a totally unconnected note, no band should be legally allowed to be less interesting than the etymological origin of their name. Call the president of music and let’s do this.